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   I am running a PS2 engine, Norfolk Western J-611 steam engine, through the DCS remote.  I only set up at Christmas and run 4 different engines on my remote.  I have had NO problems during the entire month of December.  Yesterday, when I hit "start up" on the remote and began to move the thumb wheel forward, the chuffing sound started but then the engine quickly accelerated still while making the chuffing sound at around 7 scale mph.  I also noticed that the headlight and other accent lights were not lighting up.

    I have shut the engine down and deleted from the remote and tried to "ADD MTH ENGINE" as from the beginning.   The lights did come back on and seemed to work for only a short distance before taking off at a fast speed again.  I took it to my local train store, who is a MTH dealer and it ran fine on his layout.  He told me to try a "Factory reset" on the engine, which I did, but it is still doing the same thing.

   Any suggestions or ideas????   I thought it may be the battery but the guy at my shop said its' fine. Strange that everything was working fine the entire month of December........ any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I have tested other engines on this track and put the "problem engine" on other loops.  The engine definitely seems to be the issue.  Could it be the battery???  The sounds do not seemed garbled or anything.  Again, lights not coming on and once I get to 5 mph on the thumb wheel, it takes off at a high speed and when I hit the "Direction" button it comes to a sudden stop.

 Check the pins on the engines socket where the tether plugs in. I had an 0-8-0 with similar issues. Erratic speed and loss of headlight. Was happening only on curves when there was more strain on the tether. Your Christmas layout may have sharper curves that brings out the problem. The fix is to resolder the pins. Keep the tether plugged in to keep the pins in line.On the circuit board. Takes a small iron, a magnifier at my age and a steady hand. You don't need to add solder. Just melt the existing solder back onto the pin.

Last edited by Dave_C
Dave_C posted:

 Check the pins on the engines socket where the tether plugs in. I had an 0-8-0 with similar issues. Erratic speed and loss of headlight. Was happening only on curves when there was more strain on the tether. Your Christmas layout may have sharper curves that brings out the problem. The fix is to resolder the pins. Keep the tether plugged in to keep the pins in line.On the circuit board. Takes a small iron, a magnifier at my age and a steady hand. You don't need to add solder. Just melt the existing solder back onto the pin.

Dave,

   Thank you and this sounds like the problem.  I do have two 31 degree turns in this layout.  I don't know if I'll have the confidence to do the repair so may have to take it to a MTH dealer. Thanks for the suggestion!

Could be defective wire in harness, pins on PCB as mentioned.  Those can cause light issue, smoke problems and speed problem.  But the speed could also be a defective tach tape or the gap.  Faster flywheel turns the easier it is to have miscounts.  That speeds and engine up.  So could be a combination of things.  G

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